by Paula Mabbel
I started to say something but she stopped me with a glance.
“Fine,” I said, more to Mom’s silent request.
“OK, then. I shall tell Isabel to set the table,” Lindsey concluded and left the room.
“Behave yourself, Adam. My issues are mine only.”
“You’re right, Mom. But you know I can’t just sit on the sidelines forever.”
“If things go wrong, you can get involved. I don’t want it, but I know you can’t help yourself. But only if things go wrong.”
I nodded. It seemed fair enough.
The door opened again and a Latina woman, neatly dressed in a classic maid’s uniform walked through, her hands perfectly balancing plates like she was a professional juggler. To my surprise, right behind her was Lindsey, bringing the equivalent in glasses and drinks.
OK, another point for her. I still remained unconvinced.
“Thank you, Isabel. Do you need help with the food?”
“No, Miss. It’ll only take a minute.”
The woman left and I suddenly felt awkward. It must’ve been the silence.
I walked to the large windows and looked out over the park behind the mansion. It was nicely manicured, but still had a forest feel. I liked it, I could imagine it must’ve been so calming to walk through that on a warm summer afternoon.
“You know, it’s so beautiful in the summer. Very relaxing to take a walk through the park when the heat is just too much,” I heard Lindsey at my side.
“Not a real forest, though,” my mouth said without my brain’s approval. What?
She smiled. “True. But we don’t have those around. We’re still in the city. This park does the job just as well.”
“I’m sure. And it doesn’t look too bad in the early spring either,” I tried to make up for earlier.
“Oh, so you do know how to speak.”
I raised my eyebrows as she started giggling. I would’ve asked her what she meant, but her phone was ringing.
“Oh, Dad! When are you coming home?”
She walked away, leaving me alone at the window. Mom approached, looking somewhat nervous.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t embarrass you,” I promised her.
“Embarrass her about what?” Lindsey asked.
“Were you trained in stealth tactics?”
She laughed.
“Come on, what’s going in here? Why would Adam embarrass you, Karen?”
Mom forced a smile, probably searching for the right words to change the subject.
“I’m very protective of her,” I decided to give her some of the truth. “And that means I am mostly suspicious of her boyfriends.”
“Oh. Well, I suppose that would make your mother feel bad. You don’t want your Mom to feel bad, do you?”
Was I detecting a hint of patronizing in her voice?
“Isn’t that your father’s job?”
“Excuse me?”
“Adam,” Mom cautioned me.
“Sorry,” I recanted.
“No, please, do tell. What’s my dad supposed to be doing?”
I shot her a look, half telling her to drop it and half challenging her to continue.
“Speak up, son!” she took the bait.
“Look here, little girl, you don’t get to call me ‘son’ on that tone...”
“I can call you whatever I want. You’re accusing my father of something without even having met him. That’s unfair.”
“I don’t need to accuse him of anything. He’s doing a pretty good job himself.”
“Adam!” Mom insisted, but I was too heated up by that point. Lindsey seemed to be the same.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know very well, since you’re arguing so passionately.”
“Oh, you mean that dinner with his ex? That’s his business, he can’t just drop everyone he knows because he met your mother. And it is their job to work it out, not yours.”
She had a point. I wasn’t willing to admit that out loud so I said nothing.
“His ex?” Mother said quietly.
It seemed that Lindsey had just realized Mom was in the room.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry, Karen. You should’ve heard this from Dad, not from me,” she said on an apologetic tone, then turned to me. “And certainly not this way.”
Did she just scold me?
Great. So much for not embarrassing Mom.
LINDSEY
I wanted to be mad at him. He had, after all, ruined the family dinner. I had never eaten in such a tense environment before.
Dad had no idea about the incident and Karen had barely touched her food. Everything had gone wrong and I wanted to hate him for that.
But he had apologized.
I stared at the text in a weird state of annoyance. It felt like I wanted to laugh, like it was boiling in my core, but I was hating Adam at the same time.
“He apologizes in a text?” I finally found my reason to be mad at him. “Who does that?”
I chose to reply “No worries, but you shouldn’t treat my father like that,” instead.
It felt the least satisfying but I couldn’t just be rude.
Finally, I set the phone aside, turned on my other side and tried to catch some sleep. I was half expecting him to reply. No, I hoped he would, but he didn’t.
“Man of few words, eh?” was the last thing I thought before falling asleep.
It was Saturday, so I had to work. The sun was bright, a perfect morning to wake up to. Last night’s shortcomings were long forgotten.
After a shower and a few bites of Isabel’s perfect pancakes, I was on my way into town.
“What a wonderful day for a nice drive,” I thought, turning the radio up.
It helped that I was only working weekends, when people didn’t usually commute to work, so I had the streets to myself at 9 o’clock in the morning. I was almost sad to have to park the car and get out.
“Morning, Lindsey!” my supervisor greeted me from behind the glass counter. She was arranging the new collection of platinum rings.
“Good morning to you too.”
“Someone’s in a good mood.”
I gave her a big smile before slipping into the staff dressing room to get ready for my shift.
I didn’t like the simple combination of white shirt and black pencil skirt that we had to wear, but it seemed to be this jeweler’s signature. Modesty was his motto, and it made sense. Customers were supposed to pay attention to the beautiful pieces showcased, not at the staff. The contrast was almost poetic.
The first part of the shift was boring, as usual. Nobody was up so early on a Saturday morning to buy jewelry, which was for the better since I had to prepare a presentation for Monday anyway.
On my lunch break, I decided to go for a walk and maybe have a veggie burger in the nearby park. The weather was still beautiful and it seemed like a good idea.
“Care if I join you?” my supervisor asked.
“Not at all, Matilda.”
We walked leisurely until we saw the first food truck. I was a regular, I loved Bob’s veggie burgers, so I always got a discount.
“What can I get you, lovely ladies?”
“The usual for me, Bob. And I recommend the same thing for you too, Matilda.”
“A veggie burger?” she grimaced. Her skepticism made Bob laugh.
“Oh, you’ll love it. Just try it. You can buy something else if you don’t like it,” I insisted.
“You should pay this one for promoting your brand, Bob.”
With our delicious goodies in hands, we headed for the park.
“Ooh, that bench looks good. Just enough sun,” Matilda suggested. Before I could answer, my attention got pulled towards a man jogging in our direction.
“Is that Adam?” I asked out loud.
“Who’s Adam?”
As he got closer, I could see it was him.
“Could you excuse me for a minute?” I said and headed his way. �
��Hey! Adam?”
He looked as surprised as I was.
“Lindsey,” he acknowledged me, removing his earphones.
“What are you doing here?”
“Running.”
“It’s across the city from where you live.”
“I run a lot.”
I squinted. Was he serious?
“Across the city worth?”
He just shrugged.
“Want to go for a coffee?” My mouth, it had done it again. Why couldn’t I wait to process the words first?
His eyebrows shot up and he looked spooked for a second.
“Uh... No, I don’t drink coffee when I run,” he said, then visibly grimaced at the stupidity of his words.
“Right. You can just say no,” I snapped back. I was annoyed again.
“Then, no. Aren’t you busy with your friend anyway?”
“She’s my coworker. And I am on a break. I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.”
“Coworker? Work? Why?”
“Jesus. You’re a smug prick.”
He took a step back. I was surprised by my own rudeness just the same but I kept going nonetheless.
“So, if my father is wealthy, I am not allowed to work or something?”
“I see that you’re in a permanent feisty mood. I’m not your man. Gotta go.”
Before I could say anything, he put his earphones back on and left me in the middle of the alley.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shake the embarrassment. “God, I made an ass of myself again.”
“Who’s Mr. Handsome?”
Matilda’s voice startled me.
“What?”
“New boyfriend?”
“What? No! Why would you say that?” Why couldn’t I just say he’s my step brother?
“Dunno. Just saying. I thought I saw sparkles so I made a guess.”
“There were no sparkles. I don’t even like him.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Her skepticism irritated me; about my relationship with Adam, about the veggie burgers. What was wrong with this woman?
“I’ve decided. I’m not a veggie burger person,” she said, squinting at the most delicious food she had ever held in her hands.
“You’re crazy,” I concluded and turned my back on her. I didn’t need that sort of negativity right now.
ADAM
“Thank you for doing this for me, Adam,” Mom said, zipping up the picnic bag.
“Look, last time we did something like this, I ruined it for you. So, thanks for asking. Did you pack any water?”
“No, honey. Would you mind?”
“Sure.”
I went looking for a proper container while Mom was checking if she had packed everything.
I had another chance at making a good impression thanks to Mom trying to smooth things over with Mike. I didn’t like the situation with her, but I had promised to let her manage it. It was her relationship. I was only lodging at her place until I found a suitable apartment of my own. Mike was not my concern; he hadn’t made himself look like a jerk yet.
And then, there was Lindsey. We had seen each other sporadically since that awkward dinner, and I had made the impossible to cut every meeting short. I hadn’t figured out my reasons yet, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
But today, the anticipation of seeing her again made me feel both excited and annoyed. It was like I wanted to see her, but I hated myself for feeling like that. I would’ve preferred to watch her from afar, without her being aware of my presence.
The weird thing was I was interested in all she did, but I wouldn’t have admitted that to her, or anyone else, if my life depended on it.
I pictured her in her work attire for a second, trying to imagine her outside the circumstances I knew her from. So, she had a job, and a supervisor.
How was she like with other people? Was she as bitchy with them as she was with me?
The only way to find that out was if I could watch her.
“That’s creepy,” I said to myself, then, to recalibrate my mind onto less sinful thoughts, I asked Mom “Did you know Lindsey has a job?”
“Of course, honey. Only weekends. Her father doesn’t really see the need for that, but you can’t really argue with Lindsey’s logic. She’s a good girl.”
“I don’t see the logic in it either.”
“She wants to do something with her life. Spending her father’s money is easy, but she said she wants her own.”
“Why are you laughing?”
Mom shook her head, looking like she didn’t want to tell me.
“Mom?”
“You’ve been talking about her a lot lately. Did you two patch things up?”
“What? I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. Yesterday you asked me how she does in school, and then last week you told me she looked very professional in her work clothes. Oh, and you asked about her new boyfriend too.”
“OK, OK, I get it. You don’t have to list everything I said. I’m not doing anything wrong anyway. I want to know about her. She could be family; you know?”
A shadow crossed Mom’s face when I said that.
“Yeah, I guess,” she said quietly.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m sure things would get better with Mike. Ready?”
“Yeah, I packed everything.”
I took the bags and carried them to the car. Mom started the engine, and I could see she wasn’t in the same good spirits and I felt guilty for upsetting her. She was a sensitive woman.
The entire trip to the park I tried to find a way to make her feel better, but the right words escaped me. We ended up driving in silence and when we finally got out of the car, it felt like relief.
Mike was waiting for us in the parking lot.
“Hey, honey. How was the drive?” he asked Mom, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. Was it just me or the whole scene looked colder than it was supposed to be?
“Fine. Quiet. Is Lindsey here?”
“Yeah, she’s at our spot. Making sure we don’t lose it,” he tried to joke but it was clear neither of them felt too amused. It was sad to watch.
“OK, Chief, where do I take these?” I interrupted.
“Let me help you with that.” He took one of the bags and motioned for me to follow him.
The picnic table wasn’t very far from the road, but somehow felt secluded enough. Willow trees were guarding the place and the lake provided a cool breeze in the rising heat of the late spring. On the iron table, they had already spread an assortment of cheeses and sandwiches; their version of a first course. Mom’s pie almost seemed like too much after such a light meal.
I left the bag on one of the chairs and looked around for Lindsey. She was out of earshot, talking on the phone. When I saw her laugh, I felt a pang of jealousy. Weird.
“Adam, would you like to join me?” Mike asked, pointing at his fishing rod. “I’ve got a spare one.”
“Sure,” I said with a shrug.
“Change of plans, everybody!” Lindsey said, putting her phone in the breast pocket of her checkered shirt. “My boyfriend is going to join us.”
“Wonderful. There’s plenty of food for everybody,” Mom said, smiling.
“Isn’t it a little early to be meeting the family?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, a couple of weeks is not too long, right?”
“It’s alright, guys. Nothing wrong with vetting a guy early on,” Lindsey’s father intervened.
Lindsey exhaled loudly, visibly making an effort not to get sucked into yet another argument with me.
“Anyway, he’ll be here in a minute.”
I shrugged, my signature gesture whenever I wanted to make Lindsey mad without saying a word and turned my back on her. I was certain that, if she could, she would stab me.
As the argument had been avoided successfully, I chose to err on the side of caution and keep my distance from her. Fishing, albeit mind numbing, se
emed like the best viable option.